


In Strange Places

by Gemi



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dishonored AU, Gen, Tags might change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 17:43:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17667161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemi/pseuds/Gemi
Summary: Caleb took his first step into the woods of Pandyssia, and he hoped he would make it out alive.Not that there were anyone left to miss him, if he didn’t.





	In Strange Places

The sand slid and sank under his boots, making something as simple as _walking_ unnecessarily difficult.  
  
Caleb muttered a curse under his breath as he trudged across the beach. The wind snapped at his hands, oddly cold despite the tropical forest before him, but he knew that tucking them back into the pockets of his coat would only make walking _more_ difficult.  
  
He wasn’t used to walking on sandy beaches. Where he had grown up, the ocean was lined by cliffs and smooth rocks. More often than not, Caleb had always kept to the cobbled streets of the village. So by the time he _finally_ reached the edge of the forest, he was panting hard and had to take a moment to catch his breath.  
  
Caleb was abruptly _very_ happy that the ship he had come with was already long gone. He was certain the sailors would have cackled at his struggles.  
  
Well, mostly certain. The arrival to Pandyssia had been rather gruesome. The ship’s crew had left with fewer members than they had come with.  
  
Caleb shook those thoughts out of his head, and straightened back up and quickly patted himself down. Nothing was amiss, the hard edges of bonecharms and the comfortable weight of books still exactly where they were meant to be.  
  
He spent a moment to stare into the forest.  
  
It didn’t _look_ dangerous. The trees were large, yes, and there were vines hanging off of them in a vaguely foreboding manner. But the ground was covered in leafs and sticks, just like any forest back home, and the sound of birds were only slightly strange in comparison to the ones he grew up with.  
  
Caleb took his first step into the woods of Pandyssia, and he hoped he would make it out alive.  
  
Not that there were anyone left to miss him, if he didn’t.

  
  


~

  
  


The biggest difference was the heat.  
  
Back in Gristol, there was always an edge of coldness. The ocean wind swept in from every side, the sea itself was too cold to bathe in and even during summers, it was best to wear a coat. A _thin_ one, yes, but still something to hide away from the chill that always lingered.  
  
The air of the forest- no, _jungle_ \- was humid and hot. _Scorching_ , in comparison to Gristol. Caleb’s red hair clung to his skin in a dark, wet mess before he was even an hour in, and his feet felt as if they were swimming in his own sweat within the now uncomfortably warm leather boots.  
  
He had to find water; that much was clear. At this rate, his water canteen would run out before nightfall, and Caleb had seen and read enough about Pandyssia to know that he should settle down before then.  
  
The fact that he hadn’t gotten into trouble yet was surprising. Maybe it was because of the steady humming from the rune he tucked into his coat, or perhaps the pieces of whalebones hanging from his necklace and resting underneath his shirt. If it was, he should make offerings to the Outsider before night arrived. Just to be _sure_.  
  
But first; water.  
  
It took some walking, and a peek into his books to find the perfect spell. But eventually he managed to cast a little thing that would help him walk, at the very least, in the right direction. Like a compass he could feel the tug at his heart, and Caleb willingly followed it to what would turn out to be a river.  
  
It was brown, but not stale. The water rushed fast, so it was definitely fresh, despite the unpleasant color of it.  
  
With a quick glance around, Caleb knelt down by the edge of it. He drank the last of the water in the canteen before dunking it into the river.  
  
The water didn’t even reach past his knuckles before he felt teeth dig into his skin.  
  
With a yell, Caleb yanked his hand back up, the canteen going flying into the jungle as the pain was too great to keep a firm grip on it. _Something_ was biting into his hand, something brown and scaled, and Caleb choked on his own scream as he frantically tried to shake it off. The fangs of the beast only dug in deeper, and its tail was so great and long that it slapped him in the face.  
  
Horrified, Caleb grabbed the closest rock he could find and slammed it into the creature’s head. It made the teeth dig in harder, but there _was_ damage to it. Without any other option, Caleb continued to beat it with the rock.  
  
Blood was splattered over him and the ground by the time the creature finally grew still. He had to pry it off, however, as even in death it refused to let go.  
  
Only when it lay on the ground, only when Caleb clumsily wrapped his bleeding hand with cloth he had taken from the ship, only _then_ did he take the time to look at it.  
  
It was… strange.  
  
It had scales like a fish, and the end of its tail tapered off into fin. In fact, it looked quite _a lot_ like a fish. But the head was a strange, nightmarish blend of a rat and fish’s face, with large bulging eyes and a row of teeth that looked more like a rodent’s than anything else.  
  
It had fur running down its spine. No arms or legs, but several gills and long, slippery looking whiskers. It looked _strange_.  
  
He wondered if he could eat it.  
  
And then another creature leapt out of the bushes, and Caleb froze as it snarled and stuffed half of the fish into its mouth.  
  
But _this_ one looked humanoid.  
  
Tiny; as small as a child but none of the features of one. It had green skin and a mess of black, tangled hair and large ears. Its face looked bony and sharp, and its fangs looked twice as dangerous than the fish’s. It wore clothes.  
As Caleb gaped at it, not sure how to react, yellow eyes met his.  
  
The creature froze up, as if only just now realizing what it had done.  
  
Silence fell between them. Caleb watched in morbid fascination as blood and flesh fell out of the creature’s mouth as it shifted in its spot, seeming equally uncertain on how to proceed as he was.  
  
But it wasn’t attacking.  
  
And it _looked_ almost human- if one ignored the green skin and yellow eyes, the big ears and the large fangs. If one looked beyond all that, it looked… intelligent. Had to be, considering the tattered cloak it wore.  
  
Caleb licked his lips and swallowed back his nerves, feeling like he failed to do so but forged on ahead nevertheless. Using his injured hand, he slid it into his coat and grasped at the whalebone hiding within. Blood always strengthened such things, he knew, and maybe this would help him understand and speak even an language he didn’t know existed. So he squeezed the whalebone and focused, and he spoke.  
  
“Hello,” he said, “I- can you understand me?”  
  
It blinked. It slowly, almost reluctantly, moved the fish out of its mouth. It smacked its lips, licked up the blood clinging to its face and blinked cat-like at him.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
The voice was raspy, with an oddly feminine tilt to it. And despite the pain and fear and shock of it all, Caleb couldn’t resist an eager smile at that single word.  
  
The spell _worked_.  
  
“Oh, good,” he said, watching as the strange creature’s ears twitched, “I’m- I’m Caleb. Who are you?”  
  
The creature frowned.  
  
“You’re not _scared_ of me?”  
  
“... I’m not certain,” Caleb admitted. “It is exciting, talking to someone new.”  
  
The creature scrutinized him. It had slit pupils, another cat-like feature. Surely they could not be all bad, then, looking so much like the creatures he loved so much?  
  
“I’m Nott,” she finally said. “Nott the Brave.”  
  
“That is a good name, Nott the brave. What are you? If I may ask, of course.”  
  
She gave him a look at that, as if judging his intelligence. He decided not to be offended; perhaps here, in Pandyssia, it was common knowledge. Nott had no way of knowing Caleb was not from around here, after all.  
  
“I’m a goblin,” she said.  
  
“It’s… it’s a pleasure, to meet you.”  
  
“Likewise.”  
  
For a moment, an awkward silence fell. Nott poked her claws in between the scales of the fish, and Caleb fidgeted where he sat.   
And then, Nott held the fish out.  
  
“Are you hungry?” she asked, and Caleb blinked.  
  
“You wish to share?”  
  
“Well,” Nott said, seeming flustered, “yes. You seem _very_ scrawny.”  
  
“That’s… kind of you?”  
  
“You don’t _have_ to eat it.”  
  
“No, no, it is- it is kind. But I need a fire first.”  
  
“You cook it?” she asked, and he smiled at her tone of voice. It sounded fascinated and horrified all at once.  
  
“Yes,” he replied, “I can get very sick if I eat it raw.”  
  
“Hmpf. _Fine_. I guess you can cook it.”  
  
“That is very kind of you, friend.”  
  
Nott blinked.  
  
“Friend?” she echoed.  
  
Caleb hesitated.  
  
He had not meant it quite like _that_ ; it was common, in Gristol, to say friend without the meaning behind it all. But the little goblin seemed confused and delighted all at once, and Caleb faltered in telling her the truth.  
  
“Perhaps we can be, if we stay together,” he finally said, and watched a sharp toothed grin spread across her face.  
  
“Sounds good, Caleb,” she said, “Sounds _good_.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still very new to Critical Role, so please know that I only just reached episode 27! Still, I've written this some time ago, and I hope it's good. Thanks for reading <3


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